National Audit Office

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission for how many days a month the non-executive directors of the National Audit Office are expected to work in return for their annual remuneration.

Alan Williams: The time commitment for the non-executive members of the NAO Board is approximately two days per month. The remuneration for the position is £20,000 per annum; the position is non-pensionable. The time commitment for the chairman of the NAO is one day a week. The remuneration is £50,000 per annum; this position is also non-pensionable.

Climate Change

Simon Hughes: To ask the Prime Minister whether he plans to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen; and how many officials from No. 10 Downing Street plan to attend.

Gordon Brown: Yes. Information on all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500 is published on an annual basis. Information for 2009-10 will be published in the normal way.

Public Expenditure

Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much central Government expenditure which cannot be attributed to geographical parts of the country there has been in each year since 1997; how such expenditure is calculated; and what proportion of all central Government expenditure such expenditure constituted in each such year.

Liam Byrne: The Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) is an annual statistical exercise that is undertaken to allocate expenditure by country and region. For the purposes of the CRA, all departmental expenditure on services is classified as 'identifiable' (benefiting individual regions) or 'non-identifiable' (benefiting the UK as a whole). Spending that is classified as 'non-identifiable' is not allocated to specific regions.
	The latest figures for non-identifiable expenditure can be found in chapter 9, table 9.1, of the PESA 2009 publication:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/pespub_pesa09.htm
	This table also shows non-identifiable expenditure as a proportion of Total Managed Expenditure (TME). For your convenience, this information is provided below. PESA 2009 gives information for all years back to 2003-04. We cannot provide data further back than 2003-04 on a comparable basis.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   National Statistics 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			   Outturn  Outturn  Outturn  Outturn  Outturn  Plans 
			 Identifiable expenditure 380,233 407,998 434,363 454,043 481,866 519,139 
			 Non-identifiable expenditure 59,182 62,641 66,960 68,960 73,346 80,936 
			 Total expenditure on services 439,416 470,639 501,046 523,003 555,211, 600,075 
			 Accounting adjustments 16,193 22,119 23,563 26,936 28,854 23,046 
			 Total managed expenditure 455,609 492,758 524,609 549,939 584,065 623,121 
			
			  As a percentage of total managed expenditure   
			 Identifiable expenditure 83 83 83 83 83 83 
			 Non-identifiable expenditure 13 13 13 13 13 13 
			 Total expenditure on services 96 96 96 95 95 96 
			 Accounting adjustments 4 4 4 5 5 4 
			 Total managed expenditure 100 100 100 100 100 100 
			  Source: Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses

VAT: Tourism

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the effect on  (a) the UK economy and  (b) the UK tourist industry of reducing value added tax for businesses in the tourist industry to 7 per cent.

Stephen Timms: VAT is a broad-based tax on consumer expenditure and reliefs from it have always been strictly limited. EU VAT agreements signed by successive Governments do permit Member States to introduce a number of reduced rates of not less than 5 per cent. on a prescribed list of goods and services. This list does not allow the application of a blanket reduced rate to all tourism-related activities.
	The Government keep all taxes under review. Where reduced rates are available, these have only been applied where they provide the most cost-effective and well-targeted support for the Government's policy objectives compared to other measures.
	Central Government have allocated over £130 million between 2008-09 and 2010-11 to VisitBritain and VisitEngland. However, that is only one aspect of public funding support for UK tourism. The contributions from the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly, the Regional Development Agencies, and local authorities also need to be taken into account.

Arts Council of England: Reorganisation

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects the proposed restructuring of Arts Council England to be completed; what his most recent estimate is of the cost to the public purse of the restructuring; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: The proposed restructure of Arts Council England will come into effect at the end of the financial year, so that the new organisation will be in place from the 1 April 2010. The cost of the Organisation Review, which includes recruitment, redundancies and implementing the new work methods, is £4,833,000. However, as a result of these changes we expect to see savings of £6.5million annually from 2010-11 onwards.

Departmental Assets

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assets of his Department are planned to be sold in each year from 2009-10 to 2013-14; what the  (a) description and  (b) book value of each such asset is; what the expected revenue from each such sale is; and if he will make a statement.  [Official Report, 2 December 2009, Vol. 501, c. 17MC.]

Si�n Simon: The Government have stated their intention to realise 16 billion in asset disposals over the period 2011-14 and will publish further details of opportunities to commercialise business assets in the coming weeks.
	The Prime Minister announced on 12 October 2009 that the Government intend to sell the Tote (the Horserace Totalisator Board), which is currently the fifth largest bookmaker in the UK. The sale process is intended to start in summer 2010 and be completed by no later than March 2011.

Departmental Internet

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost was of maintaining his Department's website in the 2008-09 financial year; and what the forecast cost is of maintaining websites within his responsibility in the 2009-10 financial year.

Si�n Simon: The departmental website is managed in house from existing resources. The additional costs of development, hosting, licences and editorial for 2008-9 were 62,488 running costs and 88,174 capital. The forecast for 2009-10 is running costs of 89,868 and 115,000 capital. These costs cover the main site, the Government Art Collection site and a number of in-house mini-sites.

Departmental Pay

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff in his Department received bonus payments in  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 2008-09; what proportion of the total workforce they represented in each year; what the total amount of bonuses paid was; what the largest single payment was; and if he will make a statement.

Si�n Simon: The Department makes non-consolidated performance payments to its employees for two purposes: (a) in year non-consolidated performance payments to reward outstanding contributions in particularly demanding tasks or situations; and (b) year end non-consolidated performance payments to reward highly successful performance over a whole year. These figures are exclusive of two key senior staff in the Government Olympic Executive, who were appointed on fixed term contracts ending in 2012 and whose remuneration reflects extensive relevant experience and the unique challenge of delivering the Olympics to a fixed deadline. Details of their remuneration were published in the departmental annual reports and accounts 2009. The data is set out in the following tables.
	
		
			   2007-08  2008-09 
			 Number of staff awarded in year non-consolidated performance payments 144 178 
			 Proportion of work force (Percentage) 28 38 
			 Total cost of payments () 69,109 73,700 
			 Largest single non-consolidated payment () 2,000 2,500 
		
	
	
		
			   2007-08  2008-09 
			 Number of staff awarded year end non-consolidated performance payments 235 219 
			 Proportion of work force (Percentage) 46 46 
			 Total cost of payments () 451,604 443,467 
			 Largest single non-consolidated payment () 13,000 15,000

Departmental Pay

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the  (a) average and  (b) highest non-consolidated performance-related payment was in cash terms for a senior civil servant in his Department in each of the last five years.

Si�n Simon: holding answer 24 November 2009
	The information requested is set out in the following table. They are exclusive of two key senior staff in the Government Olympic Executive, who were appointed on fixed term contracts ending in 2012 and whose remuneration reflects extensive relevant experience and the unique challenge of delivering the Olympics to a fixed deadline. Details of their remuneration were published in the departmental Annual Reports and Accounts 2009.
	
		
			   
			  Financial year  Average non-consolidated performance related payments  Highest non-consolidated performance related payments 
			 2008-09 8,210 15,000 
			 2007-08 6,738 13,000 
			 2006-07 5,356 10,000 
			 2005-06 3,576 6,000 
			 2004-05 3,466 7,000

Olympic Games 2012: National Lottery

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much and what proportion of National Lottery grant funding has been provided to the London 2012 Olympics in each year since 2005.

Si�n Simon: The funding provided to the Olympics good cause and non-Olympic good causes, respectively, was as follows:
	
		
			  000 
			   Olympics  Non-Olympic good causes 
			 2005-06 16,525 1,491,715 
			 2006-07 115,759 1,290,283 
			 2007-08 151,229 1,302,247 
			 2008-09(1) 211,063 1,238,785 
			 (1) Provisional outturn, net of Olympic transfers totalling 73 million between the National Lottery Distribution Fund and the Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund.

Olympic Games 2012: National Lottery

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much additional revenue the new National Lottery Millionaire's Raffle is expected to generate; and what percentage of that revenue will be provided to fund the London 2012 Olympics.

Si�n Simon: The National Lottery Commission holds forecasts for sales performance of new or enhanced National Lottery games, but is unable to release this publicly as the information is commercially sensitive. However, actual sales figures broken down by individual games are available via the following page on the website of Camelot, the National Lottery operator:
	http://www.camelotgroup.co.uk/aboutcamelot/ourstrategy.html
	The EuroMillions game, including the new Millionaire Raffle aspect of the game, is not a designated Olympic Lottery game and all proceeds will go to the National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF).
	The NLDF is providing a total of 1,085 million to the Olympic Lottery Distributor in 15 transfers between 2009 and 2012. It is not possible to attribute the source of these transfers to individual Lottery games.

Tourism: West Midlands

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the average expenditure per head by overseas tourists visiting  (a) the West Midlands,  (b) Birmingham and  (c) the Tamworth Borough Council area in the latest period for which figures are available.

Margaret Hodge: VisitBritain have advised the following:
	 (a) There were 1,760,000 overseas visits to the West Midlands in 2008 and average expenditure per head totalled 349 per visit.
	 (b) Overseas visits to Birmingham in 2008 totalled 763,000 and average expenditure per head totalled 337 per visit.
	 (c) Over the period 2005-08, there have been approximately 12,000 overseas visits to Tamworth in each year (due to small sample sizes it is essential to look at a longer period of time for more reliable estimates).
	Estimates for spend in Tamworth are not reliable and so are not given.

Departmental Plants

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been spent by his Department on  (a) cut flowers and  (b) pot plants in 2008-09.

Dan Norris: The costs in 2008-09 for cut flowers and pot plants was 25,309.76. It is not possible to split the costs between cut flowers and pot plants as requested.

Departmental Pay

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the  (a) average and  (b) highest non-consolidated performance-related payment was in cash terms for senior civil servants in her Department in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: The figures are set out in the following table.
	
		
			   
			   Average SCS non-consolidated performance related payment  Highest SCS non-consolidated performance related payment 
			 2004-05 4,817 10,400 
			 2005-06 7,150 20,000 
			 2006-07 8,377 26,200 
			 2007-08 9,007 20,000 
			 2008-09 9,372 15,000

Departmental Air Travel

Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many domestic flights within Great Britain officials from the Government Equalities Office took in an official capacity in 2008-09; and at what cost to the public purse.

Michael Jabez Foster: In the 2008-09 financial year, Government Equalities Office staff travelled on 44 domestic flights at a total cost of 5,848.25.

Departmental Air Travel

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many first-class flights were taken by each Minister in the Government Equalities Office in 2008-09; and what the  (a) origin,  (b) destination and  (c) cost was of each such flight.

Michael Jabez Foster: During 2008-09, the Government Equalities Office spent 5,026 on first class air travel. The details of which are as follows:
	
		
			  Minister  Origin  Destination  Cost () 
			 Barbara Follett London Amsterdam 442 
			 
			 Barbara Follett London New York 4,584

Schools: Sports

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whose responsibility it is to ensure that disabled children are offered opportunities to participate in inter-school games on a similar basis to that on which other children have such opportunities.

Iain Wright: holding answer 23 November 2009
	It is the responsibility of head teachers to ensure there is adequate provision of PE and sport for all their pupils, including those with a disability. They are supported in this role through their PE teaching staff and the Government-funded network of School Sport Co-ordinators and Primary Link Teachers across their School Sport Partnership. In addition, the national network of 225 competition managers are working within and across School Sport Partnerships to ensure there are sufficient opportunities in competitive sport for any pupils who want them.
	The Government take disability sport very seriously and are investing 2.4 million in the current spending period to provide 450 multi-sport disability clubs, identifying ability days across the country, 1,350 teachers trained to identify ability in young disabled people, and over 400 regional and county disability multi-sport festivals.

Departmental Cost Effectiveness

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what efficiency savings projects his Department put in place under the Operational Efficiency Programme; on what date each such project was initiated; how much each such project was expected to contribute to departmental savings; how much had been saved through each such project on the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: DECC has a target to find 20 million of savings in 2010-11 as part of the Operational Efficiency Programme. 17.5 million of this will be found from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's non-programme budgets and 2.5 million from savings in core-DECC budgets, including through collaborative procurement. These targets will be met through a combination of innovation and strict control of expenditure.

Departmental Pay

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what  (a) bonuses and  (b) incentives have been paid to (i) consultants and (ii) contractors engaged by executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible in each of the last three years.

Joan Ruddock: DECC has no Executive agencies.
	For DECC's non-departmental public bodies, the Coal Authority, Committee on Climate Change and the Civil Nuclear Police Authority have made no such payments.
	The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) pays its site license company parent body organisations (PBOs) (effectively contractors) performance-based incentives against delivery of site lifetime plans. Increased productivity allows the PBO to earn fees for delivering key targets within a defined timeframe. The PBOs are also incentivised to make cost savings.
	NDA's payments to PBOs are published in their annual report and accounts. Payments for the last three years are as follows:
	
		
			million 
			 2006-07 128 
			 2007-08 97 
			 2008-09 73 
		
	
	NDA does employ consultants for some projects , but specific details of any bonus or incentive arrangements would be commercially confidential.

Electricity

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to encourage the installation of Power Factor Correction equipment.

Joan Ruddock: Power Factor Correction (PFC) can make significant energy savings in certain installations.
	The Government funded Carbon Trust helps businesses determine whether this is a useful technology for them through free telephone advice and energy saving site surveys. The Trust's small and medium sized business loans scheme can be used for energy saving technologies, including PFC. Budget 2009 provided an additional 83.9 million for the scheme for financial years 2009-10 and 2010-11.

Electricity Generation

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much funding his Department has allocated to electricity generation projects using  (a) tidal power,  (b) wave power,  (c) wind,  (d) biomass,  (e) hydro power and  (f) clean coal in the last three years.

David Kidney: The Department has allocated funding through the following programmes from 2006-09:
	Offshore wind capital grants programme-a total of 38,900,000(1)
	Bio-energy Capital Grants Scheme-5,082,000
	Bio-energy Infrastructure Scheme (in two rounds)-969,000.
	The Renewables Obligation is not funded by DECC but for information, it has provided approximately 2.6 billion of funding for renewable energy technology projects (of all types) in the period 2006-09. This is for all generation by eligible technologies, so includes hydro, wave and tidal, onshore and offshore wind, biomass (dedicated and co-fired) as well as eligible waste technologies.
	HMG also provides funding through other delivery partners and for research, development and demonstration projects which are not yet operational-this is the case for tidal, wave, and clean coal.
	(1)( )The figure for offshore wind capital grants programme is accurate to September 2009.

Nuclear Decommissioning Agency: Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what payments the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency has made to Bell Pottinger in each of the last three years; for what purposes; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments have been made.

David Kidney: Over the period in question NDA used Bell Pottinger to provide strategic communications advice, stakeholder research and parliamentary monitoring services. Payments made were as follows:
	
		
			
			 2006 32,000.00 
			 2007 166,860.53 
			 2008 190,673.70 
			 2009 46,242.90

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority: Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what payments the UK Atomic Energy Authority has made to Grayling Political Strategy in each of the last three years; for what purposes; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments have been made.

David Kidney: Grayling Political Strategy was appointed by UKAEA as public affairs consultants in April 2004 after a competitive tendering process following the passage of the Energy Act 2004 and a period of significant change in the industry.
	UKAEA had to respond and restructure during this time in a manner which would offer best value for money for the taxpayer. Grayling provided the services of: public affairs strategic advice, support with key stakeholder engagement and national media support.
	The contract has now expired however payments to Grayling Political Strategy in the last three years were as follows:
	2008-09: nil
	2007-08: 34,488
	2006-07: 140,923.

A5: M1

Andrew Selous: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to the answer of 24 November 2009,  Official Report, column 58W, on the A5-M1 link, under what budget headings the 11.8 million was spent.

Chris Mole: The 11.8 million has been spent on preparing the scheme to achieve particular milestones. To date, these have included:
	Options identification including options to be taken to public consultation, assessment of environmental impact and economic benefits.
	Options selection including public consultation, public exhibitions and preferred route announcement.
	Preliminary design (current phase) including surveys (geotechnical, environmental etc.), preliminary design of the preferred route and additional design resulting from the transfer of works from the M1 J10-13 Improvements Scheme, preparation for publication of draft orders and the draft orders public exhibitions.
	Lands costs including property purchased under blight.
	The scheme is being progressed through the Major Projects Project Control Framework (PCF).
	The PCF process involves a number of products/reports to be produced or reviewed in each stage. Further information, if required, in regard to these products can be found on the Highways Agency website-Road Projects-How we manage our roads.

Aviation: Costs

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the real terms cost of travelling by air was in each year since 1997, taking 1997 as the baseline.

Paul Clark: The following table shows the average UK one-way air fare, including taxes and charges, covering domestic and international flights:
	
		
			  Average UK one-way airfare, 1997 prices 
			
			 1997 204 
			 1998 193 
			 1999 164 
			 2000 159 
			 2001 144 
			 2002 130 
			 2003 113 
			 2004 108 
			 2005 101 
			 2006 104 
			 2007 94 
			 2008 94 
			  Notes:  1. 'Fare' includes all taxes and charges.  2. Covers domestic and international scheduled flights, but excludes transfer and charter passengers.  3. Improved domestic dataset based on a sample of routes in Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) passenger interview surveys used, domestic fares exclude Channel Islands.   Source:  Department for Transport analysis of CAA and IPS data.

Network Rail: Finance

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what factors he took into account when deciding what funding should be allocated by Network Rail for railway station upgrades in response to the Station Champions report; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mole: The 50 million was announced in response to the Station Champions' specific recommendation about the need for and level of priority funding to improve the 10 major interchange stations that were identified in their report as being in most need of urgent attention. We will also challenge the industry and local government to raise part of the money required for each of the stations themselves.

Armed Forces: Per Capita Costs

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent per soldier on new individual equipment in each year since 2001; and how much is planned in each of the next five years.

Bill Rammell: The cost of the equipment which is issued to individual recruits on their entry into Army training is currently in the region of 860.
	Additional clothing and equipment is issued dependent on the role to be undertaken. For example, Osprey Body Armour and personal weapons are not issued on a permanent basis but prior to undertaking a task that requires their use.
	The levels of future expenditure will therefore be determined by the varied roles our service personnel continue to undertake.

Departmental Drinking Water

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on bottled water in each of the last 12 months.

Bill Rammell: Expenditure on bottled water used within the Ministry of Defence is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Bottled water is supplied through multi-activity, private finance initiative and public private partnership contracts. In accordance with Government policy on sustainable procurement, the supply of bottled water is to be removed from such contracts, where drinkable tap water is available.
	Separately, bottled water is supplied to service personnel under the MOD world wide food supply contract. Expenditure against the current contract for each of the last 12 months is provided in the following table.
	
		
			   Value (000) 
			 November 2008 51.7 
			 December 2008 43.7 
			 January 2009 23.2 
			 February 2009 34.1 
			 March 2009 56.5 
			 April 2009 40.3 
			 May 2009 53.8 
			 June 2009 78.3 
			 July 2009 124.5 
			 August 2009 137.6 
			 September 2009 155.3 
			 October 2009 394.2

Departmental Public Expenditure

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence under what budget headings his Department's allocation to the  (a) Afghanistan Delivery Groups,  (b) Tri-Departmental Stabilisation Unit and  (c) Conflict Pool referred to in his Department's Winter Supplementary Estimate for 2009-10 will be spent.

Bob Ainsworth: As outlined by the Foreign Secretary in a written ministerial statement on 25 March 2009, the newly combined conflict pool subsumes all activity under the conflict prevention pool and Stabilisation Aid Fund. Since this change occurred halfway through the financial year, the headings under which they appear in the parliamentary estimate have to remain as detailed at main estimates. Since then, it has been confirmed that the overall responsibility for the conflict pool rests with DFID and as such, the funding rests on that baseline.
	The MOD will continue to run those programmes for which we have the necessary experience and technical knowledge. The 6.729 million indicated in the WSE represent the transfer of authority of those funds that the MOD no longer maintains financial authority for, as responsibility for all previous-SAF programmes has now moved to DFID. Activities carried out by the MOD in terms of the SAF and CPP can be seen the Departmental Resource and Accounts:
	http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/AnnualReports/MODAnnualReport0809/

Submarines

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what expenditure his Department has incurred on  (a) the interim storage of laid-up submarines project and  (b) the submarine dismantling project to date.

Bill Rammell: The ISOLUS (interim storage of laid-up submarines) project was renamed the submarine dismantling project (SDP) in May 2009. As it remained the same project, and the name change was implemented over a period of time, it is not possible to clearly distinguish between expenditure under each of the two names. A reasonable approximation, however, would be to consider expenditure from financial year 2009-10 as being under the SDP name, and expenditure in previous years as being under the ISOLUS name.
	For expenditure on the project up to the end of financial year 2008-09, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 November 2009,  Official Report, column 54W. The current forecast spend on the project in financial year 2009-10 is 3.8 million.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the Prime Minister's statement of 19 January 2009, what steps the UK has taken to  (a) deal with unexploded bombs in Gaza and  (b) provide monitoring support at crossings into Gaza; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The Department for International Development (DFID) is supporting the clearance of Unexploded Ordnance. Mines Advisory Group has cleared unexploded ordnance (UXO) from UN Relief and Works Agency schools, allowing 220,000 children to return to school. DFID has also provided 445,446 to enable the UN Mines Action Service to coordinate UXO assessment and clearance throughout Gaza, deploy Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams to clear sites and remove UXO contamination, and train 500 people involved in rubble removal to identify and manage UXO.
	Although clearance operations are now underway, an estimated 400,000 tonnes of rubble mixed with toxic materials and unexploded ordnance still need to be removed before reconstruction can begin.
	The UK fully supports the work of the EU Border Assistance Mission to Rafah. It is critical that the mission remains ready to reactivate its work as soon as the Israeli authorities allow the crossing to open.

Sudan: Politics and Government

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received of an attack on the South Sudanese Minister Dr Samson Kwaje; what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Southern Sudan; and whether he has had recent discussions with President Salva Kiir of southern Sudan on the security situation in that area.

Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 28 October 2009,  Official Report, column 669W.
	We understand that Minister Samson Kwaje was shot and injured while promoting voter registration in Western Equatoria State. We understand that he sought hospital treatment and is recovering.
	We are concerned at such incidents of violence and urge all involved to ensure that voter registration, and other preparations for the elections in April 2010, are conducted in a peaceful manner.
	We are very concerned by the continuing insecurity in South Sudan as a result of tribal violence and activity by the Lord's Resistance Army.
	We have not had any recent discussions about this with President Kiir, however, EU High Representative, Javier Solana, met President Kiir in Brussels last week and discussed these issues with him. My ministerial colleagues, as well as senior officials, have raised security issues recently with the Government of National Unity and the Government of South Sudan.

Afghanistan: Reconstruction

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with reference to the answer of 3 November 2009,  Official Report, column 931W, on Afghanistan: UK Trade and Investment, if he will provide  (a) a breakdown of the 30 million his Department has contributed to the Harakat investment and  (b) a statement of the aims and objectives of the financial contribution.

Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) has committed 30 million over seven years (2008-15) to Harakat (Afghanistan Investment Climate Facility). Harakat is managed by an independent board, on which DFID is represented, which decides how funds are allocated and spent. To date, 3.5 million has been spent on a number of projects which include: the modernisation of the land registry system; streamlining of business licensing; and the establishment of the Afghanistan training Institute for Banking and Finance.
	Harakat's aim is to boost growth and investment, and contribute to employment creation in Afghanistan. Harakat has eight objectives which can be found on their website at:
	http://www.harakat.af/index.php?page=en_About+Us

Developing Countries: Family Planning

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what guidance his Department has issued to his Department's country offices on incorporating  (a) sexual and reproductive health and rights,  (b) family planning and  (c) abortion services into country strategy papers.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) is committed to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) including improved access to family planning and safe abortion services. We are working internationally and through our country offices to advance progress on SRHR. This is central to achieving the millennium development goals including maternal health, reducing child mortality, AIDS response and women's empowerment.
	DFID has policy papers that guide our approach to improving SRHR including the Maternal Health Strategy, Position Paper on SRHR and Achieving Universal Access-the UK's strategy for halting and reversing the spreading of HIV in the developing world. In addition, DFID recently issued an updated policy paper on safe and unsafe abortion which clearly demonstrates DFID's commitment to preventing unsafe abortion and improving access to safe abortion. All policy papers are available on DFID's website at:
	www.dfid.gov.uk
	Regional and country programmes reflect DFID's priorities in the areas of SRHR as appropriate to the country context. Where it is difficult for country offices to work directly on an issue, e.g. safe abortion where the national legal framework does not support this, DFID considers support though regional programming. This is why DFID has committed 6.5 million over five years to support regional work to increase access to safe abortion in sub-Saharan Africa.

Developing Countries: Family Planning

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure that family planning and safe abortion services are included in essential health packages of countries to which his Department provides assistance;
	(2)  which Country Strategy Papers prepared by his Department refer to  (a) sexual and reproductive health and rights,  (b) family planning and  (c) abortion.

Michael Foster: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), including family planning and safe abortion services, are key to the provision of essential health care. The Department for International Development (DFID) works through a number of formal and informal processes to ensure that these essential health outcomes are addressed both in policy and implementation. Examples of DFID's work include:
	Direct contributions to the health budgets of our partner countries as well as sector-wide programmes. Improving access to family planning is a key part of policy dialogue and bilateral programme support in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
	Supporting action to improve access to safe abortion (as outlined in our recent policy paper on safe and unsafe abortion) through different mechanisms depending on the legal framework and political sensitivity in country.
	Supporting regional and multilateral programmes to improve access to safe abortion and other services in Africa such as UNFPA's Global Programme for Reproductive Health Commodity Security to which with DFID has committed 100 million over a five year period.
	All DFID country programmes which spend more than 20 million per year are required to produce and publish country plans. These are available via the DFID website. Of the 15 reports currently available 12 refer to SRHR or a key element of SRHR (maternal health, family planning or HIV prevention) and the remaining three make reference to efforts to improve basic health care services.

Gaza: Reconstruction

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of the 47 million pledged by the UK for immediate humanitarian assistance, early recovery and reconstruction in Gaza has been disbursed; and what assessment has been made of the effect of this funding on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Michael Foster: 27 million of the UK's pledge of 47 million has been allocated for immediate humanitarian assistance and early recovery work in Gaza, and 20 million for reconstruction.
	The UK has spent 18.3 million of the 27 million pledged for humanitarian assistance and early recovery activities, and we expect to have spent all of this funding by the end of March 2010. However, due to restrictions on the entry of building materials into Gaza, the UK has not yet been able to spend any of the 20 million earmarked for reconstruction. We stand ready to provide support as soon as the situation improves, and continue to press the Israeli Government for improved access to Gaza.
	UK support is helping to make a real difference in Gaza. For example, UK funding to Oxfam helped provide clean water to over 63,000 people and improved sanitation for more than 100,000 people. Our funding to the World Food Programme and UN Relief and Works Agency helps provide food to more than 900,000 people.

UN Population Fund

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the United Nations Population Fund performance of the Global Programme in its use of the 100 million contributed to it by his Department.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has agreed to provide up to 100 million over five years to support the United Nations Population Fund's (UNFPA) Global Programme for Reproductive Health Commodity Security (GPRHCS), subject to performance. UNFPA's 2008 report did not provide adequate evidence of progress. As a result, we have held back funding scheduled for 2009. The next instalment of funding will only be released when a framework to improve reporting is in place. This will be used by all donors to GPRHCS.

Criminal Injury Compensation

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on administering criminal injury compensation in the last 12 month period for which information is available.

Claire Ward: Government-funded criminal injuries compensation is administered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). In 2008-09, CICA's employment costs were 12,075,000 and administration costs were 9,353,000.

Criminal Injury Compensation

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much criminal injury compensation was paid by  (a) the Government and  (b) convicted criminals in the latest period for which figures are available.

Claire Ward: In 2008-09, 265.9 million was paid under the Criminal Injury Compensation Scheme by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. This figure includes interim awards: i.e. awards paid to applicants pending final settlement of their applications.
	In 2008-09, HM Courts Service collected 42.3 million from offenders in court order compensation.

Legal Aid

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the budget is for legal aid in respect of the asylum system in 2009-10.

Bridget Prentice: There is not a separate budget for legal aid in respect of asylum matters. Asylum cases are funded from the overall legal aid budget, which forms part of the overall Ministry of Justice departmental expenditure limit.
	The latest forecast indicates that the cost of asylum matters in 2009-10 will be about 54 million. The figures above do not include judicial reviews concerning asylum as these cannot be disaggregated from the overall immigration and asylum category.

National Probation Service for England and Wales: Finance

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 29 October 2009,  Official Report, columns 26-7WS, on the Probation Service, what estimate he has made of the number of trainee probation officers who are expected to graduate in  (a) 2009 and  (b) 2010 without an offer of a full-time permanent job as a probation officer.

Maria Eagle: Currently 285 trainee probation officers (TPOs), who graduated in October 2009, do not have a permanent probation officer contract. 126 TPOs have secured a temporary contract as a probation officer, and a further 62 are employed as probation services officers (34 in permanent roles and 28 employed temporarily) 305 TPOs are expected to graduate in 2010, but it is too early to predict how many will be offered permanent probation officer contracts.
	The additional 26 million funding announced for Probation Board/Trust budgets in 2010-11 is specifically targeted on front line delivery. It will enable probation employers to revisit their workforce planning assumptions and potentially offer permanent probation officer contracts to TPO graduates from both 2009 and 2010.
	Directors of offender management will negotiate specific SLAs/contracts with boards/trusts. At this time it is not possible to provide the exact number of probation officer jobs available as the allocation for each probation area and trust will be agreed with the relevant director of offender management by the end of December.

Civil Servants: Pay

Steve Webb: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of civil servants earn more than 50,000 per annum.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated November 2009:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning, how many and what proportion of civil servants are paid more than 50,000 per annum. (300813).
	The Office for National Statistics collects the annual salaries of civil servants, as part of the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (ACSES).
	The requested data are attached at Annex A.
	
		
			  Annex A Number of individual civil servants paid more than 50,000 per annum( 1,2,3)  31 March 2008 
			   Greater than 50,000  Proportion to total (pe rcentage )( 3) 
			 Number of civil servants 19,490 3.8 
			 (1) Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. (2) Based on actual annual gross salaries. (3) At 31 March 2008 there were 515,660 permanent civil servants. As part of the 2008 data collection 3,620 salaries were not recorded by government departments for individual civil servants. These civil servants have been excluded from the proportion to total estimate.  Source:  Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (ACSES)

Civil Servants: Pay

Steve Webb: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much was paid in salary and wage costs for civil servants in the last 12 months; and what estimate she has made of the proportion of that figure which was paid to civil servants who earn more than 50,000 per annum.

Tessa Jowell: Information on salary and wage costs are published annually in individual departmental resource accounts.

Departmental Cost-Effectiveness

Vincent Cable: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what efficiency savings projects  (a) her Department and  (b) its agency put in place under the Operational Efficiency Programme; on what date each such project was initiated; how much each such project was expected to contribute to departmental savings; how much had been saved through each such project on the latest date for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what efficiency savings projects the Prime Minister's Office put in place under the Operational Efficiency Programme; on what date each such project was initiated; how much each such project was expected to contribute to the Office's savings; how much had been saved through each such project on the latest date for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The Cabinet Office, which includes the Prime Minister's Office, has a number of value for money saving initiatives in place to deliver against its original target of 35 million in 2010-11 as set at CSR 2007. Those initiatives include activities complementary to the Operational Efficiency Programme including: sourcing of shared services for HR and Finance transaction processing from DWP; leading on development of the Public Sector Flex shared IT service; consolidating the estate by vacating and disposing of non-core leasehold buildings and using core freehold buildings more intensively.
	At Budget 2009 the Cabinet Office was tasked with finding a further 10 million of savings bringing the total to 45 million in 2010-11. Business planning for 2010-11 is currently under way and will identify where those further savings might be found. Interim progress against our total value for money savings will next be reported in our Autumn Performance Report 2009 due to be published in December 2009. Full details of progress will next be reported in the Annual Report and Accounts 2009-10 due to be published next summer.
	Delivery of our plans will contribute to the 9 billion which will be delivered in the next Spending Period

Social Enterprise Day: Finance

Vincent Cable: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what events her Department organised to mark Social Enterprise Day in  (a) 2007,  (b) 2008 and  (c) 2009; and how much each such event cost.

Angela Smith: Hundreds of events take place throughout the country each year on Social Enterprise day. The Office of the Third Sector encourages and supports as many as possible through its involvement in the Make Your Mark: Change Lives Partnership, through support for social enterprise strategic partners and through work with other Government Departments. In 2008, OTS organised its own event to celebrate and promote the work of young social entrepreneurs at Admiralty house at a cost of 6,622. In 2009, OTS organised an event with No. 10 to celebrate Social Enterprise day and the work of the third sector at a cost of 5,603.

Third Sector: Finance

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much matched funding her Department has provided to the Grassroots Endowment Challenge since its inception.

Angela Smith: The Office of the Third Sector (OTS) in the Cabinet Office intends to announce the first annual endowment performance data, for the 130 million Grassroots Grants programme, in early December 2009.
	This data will relate to the one-year period, from the programme launch in September 2008 to September 2009.

Third Sector: Finance

Willie Rennie: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what strategic grant funding her Department awarded to third sector organisations in 2008-09.

Angela Smith: Office of the Third Sector (OTS) operates a strategic funding programme, which provides long-term core funding and financial stability to third sector organisations that operate at a national and regional level. The programme represents long-term partnership working, strategic partners have been integral in developing policy in a number of areas, including supporting the sector through the downturn.
	In 2008-09 we provided strategic grants worth 12,206,315 to support 42 third sector organisation strategic partners who can speak with authority and credibility over a very wide range of sector interests. These figures do not include funding for V, who also receives strategic funding but on a separate basis. In 2008-09 they received 5 million, which included marketing costs.
	
		
			  Strategic partners funded in 2008-09 
			  Organisation/partnership   
			 Action with Communities in Rural England 210,125 
			 Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations 210,125 
			 BMESCP/Voice4Change 262,656 
			 British Association of Settlements and Social Action Centres 155,006 
			 CEMVO 262,656 
			 Charities Evaluation Services 154,812 
			 Charity Trustee Networks 94,556 
			 Church Urban Fund 90,538 
			 Community Action Network 123,711 
			 Community Development Exchange 252,602 
			 Community Matters 261,603 
			 Consortium of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgendered Voluntary and Community Organisations 94,556 
			 Development Trust Association 145,624 
			 FaithAction 262,656 
			 Foyer Federation 118,195 
			 National Association for Voluntary and Community Action 424,753 
			 National Council for Voluntary Youth Services 242,143 
			 National Council of Voluntary Organisations 1,040,260 
			 Third Sector European Network 84,313 
			 Urban Forum 96,132 
			 Women's Resource Centre 196,993 
			 Co-operatives UK 101,000 
			 Prowess 30,000 
			 School for Social Entrepreneurs 72,000 
			 Social Enterprise Coalition 488,000 
			 Social Enterprise London CIC 85,000 
			 Social Firms 122,000 
			 The Plunkett Foundation 63,000 
			 Association of Charitable Foundations 126,100 
			 Beacon Fellowship Charitable Trust 94,600 
			 British Youth Council 94,600 
			 BTCV 315,200 
			 Citizenship Foundation 210,100 
			 Community Foundation Network 210,000 
			 Community Service Volunteers 1,050,600 
			 Institute of Fundraising 262,700 
			 Mentoring and Befriending Foundation 1,050,600 
			 National Youth Agency 315,200 
			 TimeBank 525,300 
			 Volunteering England 1,575,900 
			 Youth Action Network 157,600 
			 Youth net UK 472,800 
			 Total 12,206,315

Asylum

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the outcome was of the Prime Minister's question-and-answer session with members of the Mumsnet forum on 16 October 2009; to what categories of asylum seeker the inflationary increases referred in the Prime Minister's discussion do not apply; what the change in the weekly amount of support to a single adult asylum seeker aged 25 years is; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The Prime Minister informed Mumsnet that the Government are not cutting the amount of money given to lone parent asylum seeking families. The lone parent rate will remain at 42.16 and the amount of money going to asylum-seeking children is going up by 5.2 per cent. These changes came into effect on 6 July 2009.
	The existing support structure was modelled on that used by the Department of Work and Pensions for income support. This system distinguishes between persons aged under and over 25. Given that all asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute have access to rent free accommodation with utilities included, we do not consider the essential living needs of supported asylum seekers change on the 25(th) birthday.
	Therefore, there has been no increase to the existing over 25 rate and from 5 October no new support recipients have received this rate. Instead, a new unified rate of support for all single adult asylum seekers (excluding lone parents) regardless of age was introduced. This rate is 35.13 per week. We will honour the old over-25 rate for those asylum seekers already in receipt of it by 5 0ctober until their appeals rights are exhausted or they are granted.
	With the exception of the rate for lone parents, and the rate for single adults over 25, on 6 July all other asylum support rates were increased by 5.2per cent. in line with the Consumer Price Index for September 2008.

Departmental Cost Effectiveness

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what efficiency savings projects  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies put in place under the Operational Efficiency Programme; on what date each such project was initiated; how much each such project was expected to contribute to departmental savings; how much had been saved through each such project on the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office is participating in the Operational Efficiency Programme (OEP) as part of the Department's mainstream Value for Money Programme. The Department has a strong record of delivery against Value for Money targets demonstrating its sustained, long-term commitment to this work.
	In the 2009 annual departmental report the Home Office reported gains worth 544 million. Of this 85 million was delivered through better procurement services including collaborative contracts, consolidated IT and rationalisation of the estate, forming part of the Department's contribution to the Government's 35 billion target for the current spending review period.
	Building upon this work, we will use the Operational Efficiency Programme to bring extra focus to achieving greater efficiency in a number of cross-cutting areas. This will include taking additional steps to drive improvements in our back office, collaborative procurement, property and IT. The details of these savings will next be published in the 2010 autumn performance report.

Deportation: Finance

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his most recent estimate is of the cost to the public purse of the  (a) forced and  (b) voluntary removal of an individual.

Phil Woolas: It is not possible to provide a comprehensive figure for the cost of enforced or voluntary removals because there are many different factors which may or may not be involved in the cost of a case (such as detention costs, travel costs, and the cost of escorting the individual in question). We are unable to disaggregate the specific costs and any attempt to do so would incur disproportionate cost.
	However, the National Audit Office (NAO) give a breakdown of the cost of typical asylum cases in 2007-08 in part four of their report 'The Home Office Management of Asylum Applications by the UK Border Agency' which was published on 23 January 2009. The table on page 36 of the report sets out 12 typical profiles, including cases which result in either enforced or voluntary removal, and the lower to upper end estimate of costs either excluding or including accommodation and support costs. For example, profile four, estimates the cost of a case resulting in the enforced removal of a single, undetained adult after he or she has exhausted their appeal rights, as being between 7,900 and 17,000 excluding accommodation and support, or 12,000 to 25,600 including accommodation and support. This report is available to view at the following website:
	www.nao.org.uk/publications/0809/management_of_ asylum_appl.aspx
	However, the UK Border Agency aims to ensure removals are effected at the lowest available rate subject to operational needs.

Entry Clearances

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average cost to the UK Border Agency is of processing  (a) a postal and  (b) a premium application for further leave to remain under Tier 4 of the points-based immigration system.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 25 November 2009
	In 2009-10, the estimated average unit cost of processing a postal leave to remain application is 357 and the estimated average unit cost of processing an application made at a Public Enquiry Office is 373.

Gurkhas

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the total annual cost of welfare benefits for  (a) Gurkha ex-servicemen settled in the UK,  (b) dependants of such servicemen who have emigrated to the UK following the recent change in his Department's policy and  (c) Gurkha servicemen who would be eligible to settle in the UK on their retirement; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 23 November 2009
	There have been no recent estimates made on the cost of welfare benefits for those former members of the Brigade of Gurkhas and their dependents who have already served in the UK or will choose to do so as a result of the discretions announced earlier this year. Nor has there been any estimate made about the total cost of welfare benefits for those Gurkhas still serving who choose to settle in the UK upon discharge.
	When the publication of the revised guidance was announced it was estimated that the likely annual cost of allowing all former Gurkhas to settle in the UK would be 1.4 billion. This figure was based on cross Government consultation.

Identity Cards: Costs

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department had spent on identity card readers on 1 October 2009.

Phil Woolas: As of 1 October 2009 the UKBA has spent 107,574 on readers for identity cards for foreign nationals.

Police: Marketing

John Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of leafleting households to provide information on the Policing Pledge in each of the targeted areas in the last 12 months.

David Hanson: The cost to public funds of leafleting households about the Policing Pledge and their rights and entitlements from the wider criminal justice system in targeted areas is 234,000.

Police: Pay

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average  (a) pay and  (b) pay-related cost was of employing a full-time police officer at the rank of sergeant or below in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Alan Johnson: The pay scales for a Constable and a Sergeant in England and Wales from 1 September 2009 are as follows:
	
		
			
			 Constable 22,680-35,610 
			 Sergeant 35,610-40,020 
		
	
	The average cost of employment (including salaries, National Insurance, pension costs and superannuation) of a police officer in 2008-09 was 54,300 per full-time officer. The detailed information required to calculate the pay related cost of employing a full-time police officer for each rank is not held centrally.

Policing Pledge: Finance

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding his Department  (a) provided in the last 12 months and  (b) intends to provide in the next 12 months on promoting the Policing Pledge in respect of each medium of communication.

David Hanson: The Home Office provided 3.43 million in the financial year 2008-09 to promote the Policing Pledge, using posters-781,000, press-1.69 million, radio-670,000 and online-290,000.
	In the financial year 2009-10, the Home Office is currently spending 1.9 million to promote the Policing Pledge and the rights and entitlements the public should expect from the wider Criminal Justice System using TV to the cost of 743,000, Radio-322,000, press-380,000, direct mail-234,000 and online-220,000.
	There are no plans to pay for further promotion of the Policing Pledge this financial year.
	The Policing Pledge has helped to contribute to the raising of public confidence from 45 per cent. to 50 per cent. in the British Crime Survey.

UK Border Agency

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department spent on the UK Border Force television programme in 2008-09; and how much it has spent on that programme since 1 April 2009.

Phil Woolas: UK Border Force is a commercial programme and production costs are therefore met by the broadcaster and the television production company.
	The only direct costs incurred by UK Border Agency were travel costs for staff facilitating filming. The costs for 2008-09 were 936 and the costs since 1 April 2009 have been 5,215.

UK Border Agency

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the UK Border Agency spent on internal communications in 2008-09.

Phil Woolas: We are not able to quantify the costs of staff communications incurred across the UK Border Agency without disproportionate cost. The expenditure on corporate internal communications which covers a quarterly internal magazine and monthly e-bulletin and associated costs for 2008-09 was 136,357.

Homes and Communities Agency

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which HomeBuy agents were appointed by the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor in each of the last three years; and how much was paid to each agent in each such year.

John Healey: A network of 23 HomeBuy Agents (HBAs) were separately contractually appointed following competitive recruitment processes, by English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation to provide an advice service and to screen all applicants for low cost home ownership assistance from April 2006 to March 2009. The organisations appointed were:
	
		
			  Area  HBA Name 
			  East of England  
			 Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and West Suffolk Bedfordshire Pilgrims Housing Association 
			 Essex Moat Housing Society 
			 Hertfordshire Aldwyck Housing Association 
			 Norfolk and Suffolk Orbit Housing Group 
			  East Midlands  
			 Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire East Midlands Housing Association 
			 Lincolnshire Eastern Shires Housing Association 
			 Northamptonshire Bedfordshire Pilgrims Housing Association 
			  London  
			 East, north and west London Metropolitan Home Ownership 
			 South east and south west London Tower Homes / London and Quadrant 
			  North East  
			 Tees Valley and County Durham Nomad Housing Group 
			 Tyne and Wear and Northumberland Nomad Housing Group 
			  North West  
			 Cheshire Riverside Housing Group 
			 Cumbria Eden Housing Association 
			 Greater Manchester Manchester Methodist Housing 
			 Lancashire Manchester Methodist Housing 
			 Merseyside Plus Housing Group 
			  South East  
			 Berkshire Catalyst 
			 Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Catalyst 
			 Hampshire Swaythling Housing Association 
			 Kent Moat Housing Society 
			 Oxfordshire Catalyst 
			 Surrey Thames Valley Housing 
			 Sussex Moat Housing Society 
			  South West  
			 Avon and Gloucestershire New Futures Partnership 
			 Devon and Cornwall West Country Housing Association 
			 Dorset Knightstone Housing Association 
			 Somerset Knightstone Housing Association 
			 Wiltshire New Futures Partnership 
			  West Midlands  
			 Coventry and Warwickshire Mercian Housing Association 
			 Hereford and Worcester West Mercia Housing Association 
			 Sandwell and Solihull Mercian Housing Association 
			 Staffordshire and Shropshire, Birmingham, Dudley, Walsall, Wolverhampton Mercian Housing Association 
			  Yorkshire and Humberside  
			 North Yorkshire and Humberside Joseph Rowntree Foundation 
			 South Yorkshire Yorkshire Housing/My4walls 
			 West Yorkshire Yorkshire Housing/My4walls 
		
	
	Table 2 illustrates payments made to the (HomeBuy Agents) HBAs.
	
		
			  () 
			  HBA Name  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  Totals 
			 Aldwyck Housing Association 113,100 257,400 293,996 664,496 
			 Bedfordshire Pilgrims Housing Association 226,800 525,600 922,757 1,675,157 
			 Catalyst 389,769 813,900 513,072 1,716,741 
			 East Midlands Housing Association 35,200 95,700 259,208 390,108 
			 Eastern Shires Housing Association 14,400 13,200 140,664 168,264 
			 Eden Housing Association 0 0 47,920 47,920 
			 Knightstone Housing Association 78,300 231,000 544,185J 853,485 
			 Tower Homes/ London  Quadrant 832,299 722,700 297,825 1,852,824 
			 Manchester Methodist Housing 40,000 277,200 326,174 643,374 
			 Mercian Housing Association 119,605 439,220 617,650 1,176,475 
			 Metropolitan Home Ownership 862,350 1,284,600 2,678,050 4,825,000 
			 Moat Housing Society 750,000 960,300 1,675,387 3,385,687 
			 New Futures Partnership 23,783 628,514 580,226 1,232,523 
			 Nomad Housing Group 10,000 155,700 136,500 302,200 
			 Orbit Housing Group 117,313 339,900 253,833 711,046 
			 Plus Housing Group 32,500 118,100 164,790 315,390 
			 Riverside Housing Group 20,000 52,200 105,606 177,806 
			 Swaythling Housing Association 333,224 931,607 657,314 1,922,145 
			 Thames Valley Housing 207,732 811,800 185,200 1,204,732 
			 Joseph Rowntree Foundation 78,750 176,250 85,452 340,452 
			 West Country Housing Association 35,000 198,000 98,790 331,790 
			 West Mercia Housing Association 27,900 207,900 318,176 553,976 
			 Yorkshire Housing/My4 Walls 36,862 293,888 462,656 793,406 
			  4,384,887 9,534,679 11,365,431 25,284,997

Floods: Cumbria

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from which budget the 1 million fund to help those affected by the recent floods in Cumbria will be drawn; what the fund will be spent on; and what the timetable for such expenditure is.

Rosie Winterton: The costs of the Community Recovery Fund following the Cumbria floods will be met from the departmental budget of Communities and Local Government. We are working with local authorities affected by the floods on how the l million fund should be used, but as local authorities are best placed to assess their local priorities it will be up to them to decide how best the money can be spent.
	We are also in discussion with local authorities on the timing of the payment of the Fund. Our aim will be to make it available to local authorities as soon as possible.

Homes and Communities Agency

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what sums the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor charged to their public sector bodies in each of the last three years.

John Healey: For the last two years this figure can be can found in the HCA's annual report and financial statements, a copy of which was recently laid before the House. For the year ending 31 March 2007, derived from the financial statements of the HCA's predecessor bodies, the figure was 134,000.

Homes and Communities Agency

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  which sites the Homes and Communities Agency has purchased from public sector bodies for development; from which organisations such sites were purchased; and how many such sites have subsequently been sold;
	(2)  how much the Homes and Communities Agency paid for each piece of surplus public sector land it purchased in each of the last five years; and for how much each site was subsequently sold.

John Healey: The Homes and Communities Agency has purchased two sites since its inception on 1 December 2008. Elmcroft and St. Giles nursing home was purchased from West Sussex county council for 1.5 million, and Bullpoint, a former naval ordnance depot in Plymouth, was purchased from Defence Estates for 1.4 million. Elmcroft and St. Giles nursing home has now been sold jointly with Southlands hospital for a total of 1.775 million.

Homes and Communities Agency

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the financial exposure of the Homes and Communities Agency was in each of the last three years; and to how many single counterparties of more than  (a) 50 million and  (b) 100 million the Agency is exposed.

John Healey: The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has only been in existence since 1 December 2008, though its financial statements 2008-09 were prepared on a merger accounting basis giving full year accounts for 2008-09 and 2007-08. The carrying values of the HCA's financial assets are the agency's maximum exposure to credit risk. The carrying values for 2008-09 and 2007-08 can be found in the Homes and Communities Agency's (HCA) annual report and financial statements 2008-09.
	In the year ending 31 March 2009, the agency had one debtor in excess of 50 million and one further debtor in excess of 100 million.

Homes and Communities Agency

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many registered social landlords received loans from the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor bodies in each of the last three years; and how much was provided in such loans in each such year.

John Healey: Within the last three years there was one such loan in two payments, issued by the Housing Corporation. The two loan payments were:
	
		
			  Year ended   
			 31 March 2008 78,000 
			 31 March 2007 480,000

Homes and Communities Agency

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much grant-in-aid funding from his Department was drawn down by the Homes and Communities Agency in each of the last  (a) 24 weeks and  (b) 12 months.

John Healey: The information requested is as follows:
	 (a) The following table shows the amounts drawn down as grant-in-aid funding from Communities and Local Government by the HCA within each of the last 24 weeks.
	
		
			  () 
			  Week commencing  Drawn down within the last  24 weeks 
			 8 June 2009 33,456,069 
			 15 June 2009 59,631,000 
			 22 June 2009 49,825,859 
			 29 June 2009 315,703,266 
			 6 July 2009 27,000,000 
			 13 July 2009 49,377,638 
			 20 July 2009 34,611,720 
			 27 July 2009 104,235,702 
			 3 August 2009 52,686,812 
			 10 August 2009 47,357,327 
			 17 August 2009 52,500,000 
			 24 August 2009 76,353,917 
			 31 August 2009 66,598,644 
			 7 September 2009 44,303,603 
			 14 September 2009 56,797,638 
			 21 September 2009 43,758,049 
			 28 September 2009 132,773,863 
			 5 October 2009 8,000,000 
			 12 October 2009 32,000,000 
			 19 October 2009 93,870,772 
			 26 October 2009 132,012,676 
			 2 November 2009 87,385,343 
			 9 November 2009 26,100,000 
			 16 November 09 22,671,000 
		
	
	 (b) The following table shows the amounts drawn down monthly as grant-in-aid funding from Communities and Local Government by the HCA within each of the last 12 months.
	
		
			  () 
			  Monthly  Drawn down within the last  12 months 
			 December 2008 261,310,107 
			 January 2009 230,314,266 
			 February 2009 287,142,801 
			 March 2009 1,213,011,039 
			 April 2009 215,189,763 
			 May 2009 176,975,620 
			 June 2009 420,159,883 
			 July 2009 315,928,326 
			 August 2009 228,898,056 
			 September 2009 337,574,951 
			 October 2009 272,540,294 
			 November 2009 136,156,343

Homes and Communities Agency

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was transferred from the Homes and Communities Agency to the Government Banking Service at the end of each of the last 30 days for which figures are available.

John Healey: The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) is part of the Government Banking Service, however it retains a commercial banking service with Barclays.
	The following transfers were made from the HCA's commercial account to the HCA's account in the Government Banking Service, within the last 30 days.
	
		
			  000 
			 21 October 2009 500 
			 23 November 2009 1,500 
			 26 November 2009 1,800 
			 29 November 2009 1,100 
			 4 November 009 1,000 
			 6 November 2009 750 
			 13 November 2009 750 
			 17 November 2009 1,300

Homes and Communities Agency

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many bad debts the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor acquired in each of the last three years; and what the monetary value of each such debt was;
	(2)  what the net cost to the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor was of each bad debt incurred against it in each of the last three years.

John Healey: In the year ended 31 March 2009 the Agency wrote-off 69 debts and wrote-back 70 debts (where monies had been received on debtors that had been previously written off). The net write-off was 265,000. The Agency also had to provide for a debt of 12.6 million after exercising its step-in rights to seize possession of development land previously disposed of.
	For the year ended 31 March 2008, English Partnerships, one of the HCA predecessor bodies, incurred 27 bad debt write-offs and wrote back 103 debts. The net write-off was 126,000. The Housing Corporation incurred a write-off of 346,000, but this had been provided for in the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2002.
	For the year ended 31 March 2007, English Partnerships incurred 83 bad debt write-offs and wrote back 210 debts. The net write-off was 56,000.
	Debts written-off include those debts that had been provided for in previous years and aged debts that had been inherited from predecessor bodies, including those inherited by English Partnerships (EP). Many of the debts written-off had very little monetary value (many are small rental balances inherited by EP from the Liverpool Housing Action Trust some years ago) and due to this, and also because it would not be appropriate to disclose individual debtors' details many of whom are private individuals, it would not be meaningful to provide a full list of anonymous balances.

Homes and Communities Agency

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the monetary value of the sums owed  (a) by and  (b) to the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor was in each of the last three years; and how much of each amount is due to be paid in each of the next three years.

John Healey: The amounts owed by, and owed to, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), and its predecessor bodies for the last two years, are reported in the Annual Report and Financial Statements 2008-09, a copy of which has been laid before the House.
	For 2006-07, the figures are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Year ended 31 March 2007   million 
			 Sum owed by bodies to HCA and its predecessor 251 
			 Sum owed to bodies by HCA and its predecessor 255 
		
	
	The financial statements also show the profile of debtor and creditor balances due within one year and after more than one year, where applicable.
	The debtors balance due after more than one year as at 31 March 2009 comprises funds due in specifically agreed time-related instalments as well as funds due that do not have pre-defined dates of receipt. For those funds with specifically agreed time-related instalments, the following amounts within the next two years are due as follows:
	
		
			  By 31 March   million 
			 2011 50 
			 2012 44

Homes and Communities Agency

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many Homes and Communities Agency employees received  (a) performance-related payments,  (b) other taxable benefits and  (c) benefits in kind in respect of the year to March 2009; and how much was spent on such payments.

John Healey: The information is as follows:
	 (a) The Homes and Communities Agency's (HCA) website sets out that performance-related payments for 2008-09 performance year (running July to June) are still to be determined. However, in June 2009, the HCA paid former Housing Corporation staff the balance of a team bonus payment, which related to performance in 2008-09. This was paid to 251 staff and totalled 129,000.
	 (b) 234 employees received other taxable benefits in 2008-09 at an approximate cost of 717,000.
	 (c) 271 employees received benefits in kind at an approximate cost of 83,000.

Homes and Communities Agency

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much each board member of the Homes and Communities Agency Academy has been paid since appointment.

John Healey: The Homes and Communities Agency Academy Committee is a sub-committee of the HCA Main Board and is chaired by Professor Peter Roberts who is a member of the main HCA Board.
	Professor Roberts' fees are paid in his capacity as an HCA Board member and are published on page 42 of the HCA Annual Report and Accounts. This is available in the House Library or can be viewed online at:
	http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/annual-report-2009.htm
	Payment to other Academy Sub-Committee members are at the flat daily rate of 325.54. The following table sets out payments to Sub-Committee members since the HCA's establishment on 1 December 2008.
	
		
			  Academy sub-committee member  Gross payment 
			 D. Lamb 1,952.54 
			 R. Bennett Casserly 325.54 
			 L. Ceeney 1,464.93 
			 P. Hetherington(1) 4,479.86 
			 M. Khan 1,464.93 
			 (1) Peter Hetherington's fee also include Academy work other than directly associated with the Committee.

Homes and Communities Agency

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor spent on the employment of temporary staff in each of the last three years.

John Healey: Temporary staff costs for the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and its predecessors for 2008-09 and 2007-08 are shown on page 75 of the HCA's published financial statements for 2008-09. The financial statements were prepared under merger accounting rules which (notwithstanding the Agency was launched part-way through the financial year on 1 December 2008) required full year accounts to be prepared for 2008-09 and for comparison accounts to be prepared for the preceding year, 2007-08, but not for years earlier than that.
	The predecessor organisations for the HCA were English Partnerships, the investment arm of the Housing Corporation, and the Academy for Sustainable Communities. For 2006-07, temporary staff costs for English Partnerships were shown on pages 81 and 111 of its published financial statements for 2008-09. Temporary staff costs specifically for the investment arm of the Housing Corporation for 2006-07 cannot be disaggregated except at disproportionate cost (however temporary staff costs for the Housing Corporation as a whole for 2006-07 were shown in note 5 of its financial statements for 2006-07). Temporary staff costs for the Academy for Sustainable Communities for 2006-07 were 163,000.

Homes and Communities Agency

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor paid in social housing grants in relation to  (a) low cost home ownership,  (b) social rent and  (c) works to registered social landlords' housing stock in each of the last three years.

John Healey: The following table shows the amount of social housing grant paid by the Homes and Communities Agency and the Housing Corporation between 2006-07 and 2008-09 (three years) on Low Cost Home Ownership (LCHO), Social Rent and works to registered social landlords' stock:
	
		
			   million 
			   LCHO  Social Rent  Other( 1)  Total 
			 2006-07 443 1,433 47 1,923 
			 2007-08 427 1,552 50 2,029 
			 2008-09 551 2,029 45 2,625 
			  1 'Other' includes works to RSL stock.

Homes and Communities Agency

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many projects the Homes and Communities Agency has supported through community infrastructure funding.

John Healey: The Community Infrastructure Fund provides funding for transport infrastructure projects in the Thames Gateway, other growth areas and growth points. It is a dual-key fund with decisions taken jointly by Ministers in Communities and Local Government and the Department for Transport, with the Homes and Communities Agency responsible for the day to day management of the fund. The second round of the Community Infrastructure Fund has allocated 300 million to 54 projects.
	13 projects were announced at the Thames Gateway Forum on 28 November 2007, subject to their meeting deliverability and value for money requirements. 29 projects were announced by my right hon. Friend the Member for Derby, South (Margaret Beckett) and the hon. Member for Gillingham (Paul Clark) on 27 March 2009,  Official Report, column 30WS, and a further 12 by myself and my right hon. Friend the Member for Tooting (Mr. Khan) on 4 August 2009. These schemes are listed below.
	
		
			   million 
			  Project name  Growth area/growth point  Region  Allocation 
			  28 November 2007
			 A127 Basildon Thames Gateway East 14.8 
			 A127 Progress Road, Southend Thames Gateway East 4.7 
			 A127/A13 Victoria Station and Plaza Junction, Southend Thames Gateway East 7.6 
			 South West Canvey Thames Gateway East 12 
			 Medway Bus Corridor Thames Gateway South East 13 
			 A228 Ropers Lane to Grain Thames Gateway South East 10.5 
			 Gillingham Railway Thames Gateway South East 1.5 
			 Dartford Station Thames Gateway South East Tbc 
			 Northfleet Station Thames Gateway South East Tbc 
			 East London Transit Phase 1b Thames Gateway London 18.5 
			 Rainham Bus/Rail Interchange Thames Gateway London 1.2 
			 Greenwich and Woolwich foot tunnels Thames Gateway London 11.5 
			 Canning Town Thames Gateway London 18 
			 
			  27 March 2009
			 Cambridge Gateway Cambridgeshire East 3 
			 Postwick Hub, Norwich Greater Norwich Development East 3artnership  21 
			 Ipswich central area transport improvements Haven Gateway East 3.45 
			 New A12 Junction, Colchester Haven Gateway East 11.2 
			 King's Lynn South Transport Major King's Lynn East 5.3 
			 First Avenue, Multi-modal Corridor, Phase II, Harlow London-Harlow-Stansted East 3.58 
			 A414 dualling, Harlow London-Harlow-Stansted East 9.9 
			 Luton Parkway Station Luton and South Bedfordshire East 1 
			 Waterside Sanvey Gate Junction Improvement, Leicester Three Cities and Three Counties East Midlands 1.85 
			 Birstall Park and Ride, Leicester Three Cities and Three Counties East Midlands 2.75 
			 A14 Kettering-Ramp Metering North Northamptonshire East Midlands 1.3 
			 Northampton Modal-Shift Measures West Northamptonshire East Midlands 6.87 
			 Northampton to Wellingborough Bus Rapid Transit North Northamptonshire East Midlands 5.3 
			 Tottenham Hale Gyratory Haringey London 4 
			 Victoria Way, Ashford Ashford South East 16.5 
			 Urban Traffic Management and Control System, Aylesbury Aylesbury Vale South East 4.55 
			 Milton Keynes Busway Milton Keynes South East 5.6 
			 South East Hampshire Bus Rapid Transit Partnership for Urban South Hampshire South East 20 
			 Reading Station Interchange Reading South East 4.37 
			 Junction 30 Improvement on M5, Exeter Exeter and East Devon South West 1.5 
			 M5 Segregated Crossing, Exeter Exeter and East Devon South West 5.5 
			 Plymouth East End Community Transport Improvements Plymouth South West 9.78 
			 Wichelstowe Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge, Swindon Swindon South West 2.09 
			 Cole Hall Lane Bridge, Birmingham Birmingham and Solihull West Midlands 2.11 
			 Icknield Port Loop, Birmingham Birmingham and Solihull West Midlands 2.87 
			 Paragon Park, Coventry Coventry West Midlands 2.16 
			 Sustainable Transport, Burton on Trent East Staffordshire West Midlands 3.3 
			 A38 Grade Separated Junction at Branston, Burton on Trent East Staffordshire West Midlands 6.5 
			 West of Worcester Bus Rapid Transit Corridor Worcester West Midlands 3.2 
			 
			  4 August 2009
			 Gainsborough Transport Infrastructure Gainsborough East Midlands 1.85 
			 Tees Valley A19 (T)/A66 (T) Network Management Strategy Tees Valley North East 3.975 
			 Newcastle Quaylink (Q2) Link Road Newcastle and Gateshead North East 0.93 
			 A19/Peterlee Centre South and East Durham North East 1.756 
			 Chapelford and Bruche-Pedestrian and Cycle Accessibility Mid Mersey North West 1.76 
			 Chorley Buckshaw Parkway Central Lancashire and Blackpool North West 3.3 
			 North Manchester Metrolink Stations Greater Manchester North West 4 
			 Shoreham Harbour Regeneration Shoreham South Coast South East 5 
			 Chiverton Cross Junction Improvements Kerrier and Restormel South West 3.85 
			 Teignbridge-Newton Abbot Infrastructure Package Teignbridge South West 2.4 
			 Dearne Valley Improvement Package Doncaster and South Yorkshire/Leeds City Region Yorkshire and the Humber 2.34 
			 Pedestrian Route-Beechnut Lane to Stuart Road Pontefract Leeds City Region Yorkshire and the Humber 1.18

Housing: Bristol

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what recent estimate he has made of the average cost per unit of building a home on the Hanham Hall site in Bristol;
	(2)  how much the Homes and Communities Agency has spent on the Hanham Hall development  (a) in total and  (b) per unit.

John Healey: Total spend to date by the Homes and Communities Agency at Hanham Hall is 4,697,232.
	We are unable to provide estimates of the average cost per unit as this is commercially confidential information. The lead developer has not yet gone out to tender on the build contract and therefore revealing this information would prejudice the tender process.

Housing: Offices

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the monetary value of  (a) buildings and  (b) leases owned by (i) the Tenant Services Authority and (ii) the Homes and Communities Agency and their predecessors and used as offices was in each of the last three years.

John Healey: For the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and its predecessor organisations (English Partnerships, the investment arm of the Housing Corporation, and the Academy for Sustainable Communities):
	The value for buildings owned by the Agency for 2008-09 and 2007-08 are reported in note 20 on pages 78-79, of HCA's published financial statements 2008-09. See further below for 2006-07.
	Annual commitments against operating leases for land and buildings for 2008-09 and 2007-8 are reported in note 40 on page 98, of the HCA's published financial statements 2008-09. See further below for 2006-07.
	For the Tenants Services Authority (TSA) and its predecessor organisation (the regulation arm of the Housing Corporation):
	The TSA did not own any buildings in 2008-09 and 2007-08; see below for 2006-07.
	Annual commitments against operating leases for offices for 2008-09 and 2007-08 are reported in note 23 on page 102 of the TSA's financial statements for 2008-09. See further below for 2006-07.
	For 2006-07, for English Partnerships (EP):
	The value of buildings owned by EP were reported on in note 13 on page 84 and note 10 on page 114, of EP's published financial statements for 2006-07.
	Annual commitments against operating leases for land and buildings for 2006-07 are reported in note 27 on page 93 and note 21 on page 123, of EP's published financial statements for 2006-07.
	For 2006-07, for the Housing Corporation (its investment arm being the predecessor for the HCA and its regulation arm being the predecessor the TSA):
	There were no buildings owned by the Housing Corporation.
	Annual commitments against operating leases for offices for 2006-07 were shown in note 26 of the Corporations financial statements for 2006-07.
	For 2006-07, for the Academy for Sustainable Communities:
	The Academy did not own any buildings.
	The charge for rent on offices was 107,000.

Local Authority Business Growth Incentives Scheme

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what grants have been made to projects in  (a) Thanet,  (b) Dover and  (c) Canterbury under the Local Authority Business Growth Incentive Scheme in each year since its inception.

Barbara Follett: Local Authority Business Growth Incentive (LABGI) grants have been awarded to Thanet district council, Dover district council and Canterbury city council as set out in the following table. LABGI grants are not awarded to specific projects and decisions about how to spend them are a matter for individual local authorities.
	
		
			   
			   Thanet  Dover  Canterbury 
			 2005-06 547,930 0 532,648 
			 2006-07 0 0 0 
			 2007-08 2,458,327 0 2,378,982 
			 2008-09 314,325 0 298,898 
			 2009-10 55,815 46,095 63,936

Local Government: Pensions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average employer contribution to the local government pension scheme was in 2008-09; and if he will make a statement.

Barbara Follett: The average employer contribution per member to the local government pension scheme in England in 2008-09 was 3,200.
	This information is available in the statistics release Local Government Pension Scheme Funds England 2008-09 that is available on the Communities and Local Government website at:
	www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/localregional/localgovernmentfinance/statistics/pensionscheme/

Non-Domestic Rates: Empty Property

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the effect of levels of empty property rates on the number of buildings that have been demolished in the latest period for which figures are available.

Barbara Follett: No estimate has been made.
	Our reforms to empty property relief are principled and right for the long-term. However, we have listened to owners. In 2009-10 all empty properties with rateable values up to 15,000 are eligible for full relief from business rates-70 per cent. of all properties are under this threshold and, if empty, are not liable for rates in 2009-10. This temporary measure is providing real help to owners to manage short-term pressures in a difficult property market.

Non-Domestic Rates: Empty Property

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the effect of empty property rates on the number of business closures in the latest period for which figures are available.

Barbara Follett: No estimate has been made.
	Our reforms to empty property relief are principled and right for the long-term. However, we have listened to owners. In 2009-10 all empty properties with rateable values up to 15,000 are eligible for full relief from business rates-70 per cent. of all properties are under this threshold and, if empty, are not liable for rates in 2009-10. This temporary measure is providing real help to owners to manage short-term pressures in a difficult property market.

Travelling People: Grants

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many Gypsy and Traveller site grants were made in each of the last three years; and what the average amount of such a grant was in each of those years.

Barbara Follett: Grant for refurbishing existing and building new Gypsy and Traveller sites since 2006-07 has been paid through the Gypsy and Traveller Site Grant.
	In rounds one and two of year 2006-07 56 grants were paid at a total cost of 14,265,752 making the average grant 254,745. For rounds one and two of year 2007-08 74 grants were paid at a total cost of 13,436,131 making an average of 181,569 per grant and in 2008-09 56 grants were paid at a total cost of 11,965,079 with the average grant being 213,662.

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust: Finance

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust to achieve the target funding identified for it under the new NHS funding formula.

Mike O'Brien: We are committed to moving all primary care trusts (PCTs) towards their target allocations as quickly as possible. In 2009-10 and 2010-11, we have ensured that the most under-target PCTs benefit from the highest increases in funding. Over those two years, the allocation to Cornwall and Isles of Scilly PCT will grow by 94.2 million or 12.1 per cent., compared with the national average of 11.3 per cent.
	No decisions have yet been taken on the future rate of progress towards target allocations. The rate at which PCTs will move towards their target allocation in future years will need to be considered in light of a number of factors including population changes, cost pressures and the overall resources available to the national health service.

Departmental Assets

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assets of his Department are planned to be sold in each year from 2009-10 to 2013-14; what the  (a) description and  (b) book value of each such asset is; what the expected revenue from each such sale is; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: The Government have stated their intention to realise 16 billion in asset disposals over the period 2011-14 and will publish further details of opportunities to commercialise business assets in the coming weeks.
	Consideration is being given to further commercialising certain arm's length bodies and special health authorities that already operate on a trading basis. As yet, no decisions have been made regarding their sale.
	The following list of major property assets in the ownership of the Secretary of State for Health are planned to be sold during 2009-10 and are aggregated for the period 2010 to 2014 as sales dates cannot be confirmed.
	The sale price is given where a property has been sold. Where a property remains to be sold, the anticipated receipt is commercially confidential and therefore has not been provided.
	
		
			  2009-10 
			  Property  Description  Sale price (000)  Asset  v alue (000) 
			 332 High Road, Tottenham Offices 425 195 
			 Land at Napsbury, St Albans Open land 255 255 
			 Blackbrook House, Fareham Maternity home 750 750 
			 Land at Woodside, Plymouth Car park 190 132 
			 Lakeview Close, Walsall Health buildings 1,000 1,000 
			 10 Palmer Crescent, Ottershaw Residential 160 263 
			 White Hart, Harrogate Conference facility 2,240 2,240 
			 22-38 Princes Road, Redhill Residential - 700 
			 Eagle Cottages, Jarrow Residential - 354 
			 96 Harrowdene Road, Wembley Residential - To be determined 
			 90 Capel Gardens, Pinner Residential - To be determined 
			 Garratt Lane, Wandsworth Retail - 268 
			 Northern View, Bradford Open lane - 2,750 
			 63-65 Bardsley Drive, Farnham Residential - 379 
			 Land at Wellington Hospital, Telford Open land - 100 
			 St Georges Road, Bolton NHS Business Service authority property - 550 
			 Old Elvet, Green Lane, Durham NHS Business Service authority property - 1,000 
		
	
	
		
			  2010-11 to 2013-14 
			  Property  Description  Sale Price (000)  Asset  v alue (000) 
			 Land at Princes Road, Redhill Car park - 500 
			 50 Scattergate Green, Appleby Residential - 79 
			 Ropewalk, St Neots Residential - 256 
			 15 Ambleside Avenue, SW16 Residential - 536 
			 Land at former Brookwood Hospital, Woking Open land - To be determined 
			 Farm Lane House, Plymouth Residential - 275 
			 Halcyon, Plymouth Residential - 309 
			 Oaklands, Plymouth Residential - 275 
			 Land at Victoria Hospital, Worksop Open land - 470 
			 Primrose Lane, Huntingdon Health buildings - 812 
			 Land at Michigan Way, Totton Open land - 550 
			 Land at Bucknell, Stafford Open land - 131 
			 Warwick Cottage, Melton Mowbray Residential - 115 
			 Fox Hollow, Dudley Residential - 80 
			 14 Eachway Lane, Rednall Residential - 100 
			 Land at Joyce Green, Dartford Open land - To be determined 
			 Land at Harwich Hospital, Harwich Open land - 823 
			 St Michael's Hospice, Basingstoke Hospice - 2,699 
			 Harps Close Meadow, Sudbury Open land - 377 
			 Part Little Plumstead Hospital , Norwich Hospital - 2,600 
			 Part Harperbury Hospital, Radlett Hospital - To be determined 
			 St. James' Court, Balham Residential - 2,213 
			 Land at Storthes Hall, Huddersfield Open land - 59 
			 Heathway, Seaham Residential - 78 
			 St Martin's College, Lancaster Training - 1,835 
			 Melbourne House, Derby Training - 519 
			 Land at Alexandra Hospital Redditch, Open land - 1,000 
			 Part Lea Castle Hospital, Kidderminster Health buildings - 890 
			 Land at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital Shrewsbury Open land - To be determined 
			 The Dental Practice Board site, Eastbourne NHS Business Service Authority property - 1,000

Departmental Public Expenditure

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent per capita in  (a) England and  (b) Buckinghamshire in each of the last three years.

Mike O'Brien: The amount spent per capita in total in England by all primary care trusts (PCTs) and by Buckinghamshire PCT, in each of the last three years, is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   
			   Buckinghamshire PT  England 
			 2008-09 1,251 1,499 
			 2007-08 1,198 1,428 
			 2006-07 1,119 1,310

NHS: Finance

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS services are fully funded during the recession.

Mike O'Brien: We are increasing allocations to primary care trusts by 5.5 per cent. in both 2009-10 and 2010-11, making over 8 billion in new resources available for the national health service. The Government have not yet taken decisions on funding for the NHS for 2011-12 onwards. That will be decided as part of the next spending review.

Broadband

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding is available to provide access to broadband in local community facilities.

Stephen Timms: This Department has no dedicated funding set aside to provide access to broadband in local community facilities. Working with partners, however, it does help provide access to the internet in local communities. For example, this Department, with DCSF, provides funds of up to 10 million per year to UK Online Centres. These centres use a variety of facilities, with 82 per cent. located in areas of high deprivation. These funds provide people with help and support to access and use computers and the internet.

Departmental Air Travel

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey of 2 November 2009,  Official Report, columns 786-87W, on departmental aviation, how much his Department has spent on  (a) first and  (b) standard class air travel by (i) the Secretary of State, (ii) Ministers in his Department and (iii) departmental officials since 3 October 2008.

Patrick McFadden: The amount spent on flights by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform including the ex Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) part of the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) for the period from 3 October 2008 to 7 November 2009 was:
	
		
			
			 Economy/business class 3,019,448.53 
			 First class 464,440.49 
		
	
	Travel by Ministers is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code. The Department does not hold separate records of the travel undertaken by Ministers as opposed to those undertaken by civil servants, to provide this information would entail disproportionate costs.
	Cabinet Office provides an annual list of overseas travel over 500 undertaken by Ministers. The 2008/09 list was published on 16 July and can be viewed at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/propriety_and_ethics/ministers/travel_gifts.aspx

Departmental Visits Abroad

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many officials of his Department travelled abroad with the Secretary of State on each foreign visit he has made since his appointment; and at what cost for each visit.

Patrick McFadden: The Cabinet Office published on 16 July a list of all overseas visits undertaken by Ministers costing 500 or more during the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March. The list provides details of the date, destination and purpose of all such visits and the cost of Ministers' travel and accommodation where appropriate. Copies of the list have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and is also available on the Cabinet Office website at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/226022/travel 2008 2009.pdf.
	The cost of accompanying private office staff is included in the annual published cost of all Ministers' visits overseas.
	All travel by Ministers and civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code respectively.

Higher Education: Finance

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what average per-student teaching grant was received by each higher education institution in England for  (a) UK and  (b) non-UK EU undergraduate students in the latest period for which figures are available.

David Lammy: For 2009/10 the amount of teaching grant per student can be calculated as follows (see notes in table).
	
		
			
			 Anglia Ruskin University 4,662 
			 Aston University 4,304 
			 University of Bath 4,265 
			 Bath Spa University 3,981 
			 University of Bedfordshire 4,345 
			 Birkbeck College 4,753 
			 University of Birmingham 4,879 
			 Birmingham City University 4,579 
			 University College Birmingham 4,935 
			 Bishop Grosseteste University College, Lincoln 4,221 
			 University of Bolton 5,189 
			 The Arts University College at Bournemouth 4,400 
			 Bournemouth University 4,170 
			 University of Bradford 4,683 
			 University of Brighton 4,494 
			 University of Bristol 5,589 
			 Brunei University 4,121 
			 Buckinghamshire New University 4,218 
			 University of Cambridge 4,784 
			 Canterbury Christ Church University 4,016 
			 University of Central Lancashire 4,753 
			 Central School of Speech and Drama 4,508 
			 University of Chester 4,073 
			 University of Chichester 4,069 
			 City University, London 4,460 
			 Courtauld Institute of Art 3,032 
			 Coventry University 4,345 
			 University for the Creative Arts 4,490 
			 University of Cumbria 4,781 
			 Conservatoire for Dance and Drama 4,738 
			 De Montfort University 4,383 
			 University of Derby 4,345 
			 University of Durham 3,862 
			 University of East Anglia 4,581 
			 University of East London 4,656 
			 Edge Hill University 4,519 
			 Institute of Education 4,855 
			 University of Essex 3,827 
			 University of Exeter 4,086 
			 University College Falmouth 4,061 
			 University of Gloucestershire 3,887 
			 Goldsmiths College, University of London 3,924 
			 University of Greenwich 4,870 
			 Guildhall School of Music and Drama 4,650 
			 Harper Adams University College 5,814 
			 University of Hertfordshire 4,138 
			 Heythrop College 3,237 
			 University of Huddersfield 4,624 
			 University of Hull 4,292 
			 Imperial College London 7,181 
			 Keele University 4,722 
			 University of Kent 3,812 
			 King's College London 6,976 
			 Kingston University 4,721 
			 Lancaster University 3,531 
			 University of Leeds 4,690 
			 Leeds Metropolitan University 4,027 
			 Leeds College of Music 4,138 
			 Leeds Trinity University College 3,760 
			 University of Leicester 4,719 
			 University of Lincoln 4,085 
			 University of Liverpool 5,725 
			 Liverpool Hope University 4,089 
			 Liverpool John Moores University 4,439 
			 Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts 4,122 
			 University of the Arts London 4,595 
			 London School of Economics and Political Science 3,273 
			 London Metropolitan University 4,890 
			 London South Bank University 4,819 
			 Loughborough University 4,250 
			 University of Manchester 4,758 
			 Manchester Metropolitan University 4,052 
			 Middlesex University 4,195 
			 University of Newcastle upon Tyne 5,043 
			 Newman University College 4,277 
			 University of Northampton 4,069 
			 University of Northumbria at Newcastle 4,318 
			 Norwich University College of the Arts 4,423 
			 University of Nottingham 4,693 
			 Nottingham Trent University 4,124 
			 Open University 5,426 
			 School of Oriental and African Studies 3,438 
			 University of Oxford 4,333 
			 Oxford Brookes University 3,939 
			 School of Pharmacy 6,172 
			 University of Plymouth 4,706 
			 University College Plymouth St. Mark and St. John 4,074 
			 University of Portsmouth 4,065 
			 Queen Mary, University of London 6,294 
			 Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication 5,634 
			 University of Reading 3,979 
			 Roehampton University 4,254 
			 Rose Bruford College 4,513 
			 Royal Academy of Music 4,366 
			 Royal Agricultural College 4,337 
			 Royal College of Music 4,369 
			 Royal Holloway, University of London 3,957 
			 Royal Northern College of Music 3,969 
			 Royal Veterinary College 13,620 
			 St. George's Hospital Medical School 10,017 
			 St Mary's University College 4,196 
			 University of Salford 4,455 
			 University of Sheffield 4,675 
			 Sheffield Hallam University 4,182 
			 University of Southampton 4,788 
			 Southampton Solent University 4,192 
			 Staffordshire University 4,626 
			 Universities of East Anglia and Essex; Joint Provision at University Campus Suffolk 4,583 
			 University of Sunderland 5,073 
			 University of Surrey 4,035 
			 University of Sussex 3,976 
			 University of Teesside 5,079 
			 Thames Valley University 5,164 
			 Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance 4,635 
			 University College London 6,003 
			 University of Warwick 4,259 
			 University of the West of England, Bristol 4,071 
			 University of Westminster 4,481 
			 University of Winchester 3,643 
			 University of Wolverhampton 4,886 
			 University of Worcester 4,417 
			 Writtle College 5,429 
			 University of York 3,882 
			 York St. John University 3,805 
			  Notes: 1. The rates of funding are per full-time equivalent UK/EU student for 2009/10 and reflect the standard rates of grant provided for each institution through HEFCE's main teaching grant plus those other elements of its teaching grant that can be clearly attributed to undergraduate students (funding for widening access, improving retention, foundation degrees and part-time undergraduate students). It does not include other elements of teaching grant that are calculated at the whole institution level. 2. The figures also exclude income from tuition fees, other public funders such as the NHS and the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) or from other sources. 3. The main reason for variation in the rates of funding received by institutions is their mix of students between different subject areas. Hence the highest rates are received by institutions specialising in medicine or veterinary science and the lowest rates by institutions specialising in classroom-based subjects. Other causes of variation are the extent to which institutions receive funding to reflect their additional costs associated with widening participation and supporting students more at risk of not completing their studies, and their mix between full-time and part-time and between foundation degrees and other undergraduate students.

Insolvency Service: Finance

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on which projects the 23,489.94 funding provided to the Insolvency Service by his Department in 2007-08 was spent other than on the Enabling the Future programme.

Ian Lucas: During the year 2007-08, 23,489.94 (the actual figure spent in 2007-08 was 23,572.22) was spent. Of this, 11,892.22 was assigned to the service's Enabling the Future (EtF) programme and 11,680 was assigned to the rest of the service to raise awareness of the agency's organisational values promoting awareness of acceptable behaviour, to ensure all staff were treated fairly at work.
	EtF is a major change programme which is enabling Insolvency Service staff to provide the best possible service to customers. It represents a major programme of investment in the service's systems and the way it works. It is aimed at: providing modern tools and processes to support the highest quality of customer service; reducing costs and so improving the value for money the service offers; and making the service a better and more rewarding place for staff to work in. The money was spent on internal publicity material designed to ensure that the changes in working practices were embedded within the organisation.
	The 11,680 assigned to the agency's organisational values includes 3,500 spent on mugs ordered by the service and issued to staff, with the agency's logo and text reading 'Your Views Matter'. The mugs were used to remind and encourage staff to complete the staff attitude survey. This is important because by seeking to increase take-up of the staff survey the service is able to develop a better understanding of staff needs in relation to performing their roles more effectively. By addressing these needs the service is able to drive up performance and provide a better service to customers. The mugs also encouraged staff to support the agency's environmental policies by using fewer disposable cups.
	Part of the figure also includes 3,000 relating to sticky note pads designed to raise awareness of the service's organisational values, promoting awareness of acceptable behaviour, to ensure all staff were treated fairly at work. This item featured the service's logo and the strapline 'Working Well Together'.
	Set out in the table is the list of promotional products purchased to raise awareness of the agency's organisational values, promoting awareness of acceptable behaviour at work.
	
		
			  Promotional item  Approximate cost () 
			 Sticky note pads 3,000 
			 Note Pads 400 
			 Folders 500 
			 Calendars 1,000 
			 Posters 200 
			 Leaflets 2,900 
			 Mugs 3,500 
			 Pens 180 
			 Estimated total 11,680 
		
	
	In response to my previous reply to the hon. Member on 9 September 2009,  Official Report, column 2077W, the service stated that 23,489.94 was spent on promotional products in 2007-08. The correct figure should have been 23,572.22. This figure consists of 11,892.22 on the service's EtF programme and 11,680 on the service's organisational values, the total cost of which was 23,572.22.

Post Offices: Finance

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding his Department has allocated to post offices in  (a) urban and  (b) rural areas in each of the last 10 years.

Patrick McFadden: In the last 10 years, the Department has provided over 3.3 billion in support of the post office network. This includes the current annual 150 million subsidy which supports otherwise loss-making post offices in urban and rural areas.

Work Experience

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what internship schemes his Department  (a) partially and  (b) fully funds; how much his Department plans to spend on each such scheme in 2009-10; and how many places there are on each such scheme.

David Lammy: The Department has developed the Graduate Talent Pool, a one stop matching service for employers who have internships to advertise and graduates seeking suitable placements. We have so far provided funding of 1,184,000 in 2009-10 to cover infrastructure and publicity costs, and over 11,000 vacancies have been advertised on the website.
	In addition, BIS is working with the Department of Work and Pensions to deliver 5,000 graduate internship opportunities under Backing Young Britain, and with the Federation of Small Businesses and HEFCE to generate 5,000 more in small and medium sized businesses. The total cost of these places will be around 16 million. HEFCE has also funded over 2,000 graduate internship opportunities for 2009-10 through its Economic Challenges Investment Fund.